Conservatives, Massing, Taking Aim

THE CREME de la Creme OF THE CROP of America's conservative community congregated on MLK day in Richmond, VA., the capital of the Confederacy, which embraced many of the same values. There is the suspicion that promotion of racism was a part of the reason for the gathering together of the far right gun advocates. The primary purpose was to demonstrate opposition to pending gun control legislation being promulgated by Democrats, which the gun enthusiasts see as potentially lethal to the American way, which, history indicates, is violent. White supremacists and racists were abundantly present, ironically, since MLK was assassinated by a racist, using a rifle he legally owned, because he had theretofore been a good citizen. James Earl Ray's hateful attitude towards African-Americans is exemplified widely among today's legal gun owners. Most gun murders are self inflicted, enabled by easy access to guns. Most gun murders murders involve domestic disputes, acts of anger and desperation, alienation. Many involve disputes over money. That Donald Trump has emboldened racists in America with his often thinly disguised racist rhetoric is indisputable. Many white supremacists themselves give him credit for their inspiration, inspiration which too often results in mass murder. The widely disseminated argument that putting guns in the hands of "good people" deters gun violence is repudiated by verified research, both in the United States, where gun ownership is rampant, and gun violence widespread, and in England and Australia, where severe restrictions on gun ownership enacted within the past twenty years have resulted in a huge decrease in gun violence. It is evident that the solution to gun violence is the same as the solution to numerous other societal maladies; the defeat and elimination of the far right as a political force.